24 October 2019 Dear Enquirer Re: Chair of the College Board of Management I am pleased to provide you with some further information on the opportunity available to join the Board of West Highland College UHI as its new Chair. The role will fall vacant when the current Chair, John C Hutchison, steps down at the end of his term of office. If you wish to be considered for the role, I would be much obliged if you could forward to me a copy of your complete Curriculum Vitae, including the names of two referees. Please also include a letter outlining what you might contribute to the Board, as a member and as Chair. The next stage in the process will be for the Board’s Search & Nominations committee to agree a short list, and invite these applicants to interview. Interviews will be held on 19 November 2019 at the Fort William campus. Aside from the interview, this will be an opportunity for you to meet with one or two current Board members and the Principal, and to ask any questions you may have. Thereafter, a recommendation for appointment will be made, subject to final ratification by the Board of Management. If you would like a more detailed discussion on the role of the Chair, and more information about the Board and the College, Duncan Ferguson would be happy to speak to you. Duncan is one of the Board’s Vice Chairs. Please contact him by email in the first instance: [email protected] (from Monday 28 October). Alternatively, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely, Claire Wylie, Secretary to the Board West Highland College UHI – Auchtertyre Colaiste na Gàidhealtachd an Iar OGE - Uachdar Thìre Direct Dial: 01397 874525 | www.whc.uhi.ac.uk | Taigh Darach, Lochalsh Business Park, Auchtertyre, Kyle of Lochalsh, IV40 8EG Registered Office: West Highland College UHI, Carmichael Way, Fort William, PH33 6FF | Tel: 01397 874000 West Highland College UHI is a company limited by guarantee (SC153921) with charitable status (SC024193) Chair of the Board of Management Cathraiche a’ Bhùird Stiùiridh West Highland College UHI is seeking a new Chair for its Board of Management. West Highland College UHI is a growing, dynamic and successful provider of higher and further education in the West Highlands, supported by a Board that collectively helps guide the strategic direction of the College and fosters an environment which maximises the potential of learners. As Chair of the Board, you will bring your expertise and skills used locally in business or in the community to play a key role in ensuring that the governing body works effectively. You will have particular responsibility for providing strategic leadership to the Board and for ensuring it successfully discharges its overall responsibility for the activities of the College. You will also play a leading role in the College’s relationship with the University of the Highlands and Islands and other key stakeholders. The commitment is an average of 2-3 days a month. Expenses and a small honorarium is paid to the Chair, but the chief rewards are the ability to ‘make a difference’ for students, employers and local communities, and the personal satisfaction that will be gained from a leading role at a highly regarded College. Closing date: Friday 8 November 2019 For further information please contact the secretary to the Board: Email: [email protected] Tel: 01397 874525 (Monday to Thursday) In line with our Equality and Diversity policy, West Highland College UHI is committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated on the basis of their merits and abilities, and that unfair and unlawful discrimination is eliminated. We positively welcome applications from all sections of the community. West Highland College UHI is a company limited by guarantee (SC153921) with charitable status (SC024193) Registered Office: West Highland College UHI, Carmichael Way, Fort William. PH33 6FF Chair of the Board of Management: Vacancy Cathraiche a’ Bhùird Stiùiridh: Àite Ban West Highland College UHI is a College created by the merger of Lochaber and Skye & Wester Ross Colleges in 2010 and is a growing, dynamic and successful provider of higher and further education in the West Highlands. It serves a diverse geographic area, from Ullapool to Ardnamurchan, with its learning centres in Auchtertyre, Broadford, Fort William, Gairloch, Kilchoan, Kinlochleven, Mallaig, Portree, Strontian and Ullapool. It has an annual turnover of circa £4.5 million with income from commercial activity as well as government funding. We deliver a very wide range of provision in further education and, as part of UHI, a flagship suite of degree programmes in adventure and marine tourism, with a further range of outdoor sports and education courses. In addition, the college offers hosted higher education and degree study in over 20 different subject areas, all designed to deliver the skills and educational needs of local and national employers. We engage closely with schools and businesses in the area in order to offer focussed and relevant education and training and aim to make further and higher education much more accessible to all who live and work in the area. West Highland College UHI is currently one of the highest performing colleges in Scotland, having rapidly built capacity for learning of the highest quality. The College’s Board of Management, its governing body, plays a crucial role in shaping its strategic direction. Currently it has a mix of new and longer term members who bring an array of skills to bear on the Board’s business and share their knowledge and expertise in support of the College’s vision of ‘Excellence for All’. It collectively helps guide the strategic direction of the College and fosters an environment which maximises the potential of learners. We are looking for someone to act as Chair to the Board, who will bring the expertise and skills used in the community or in public or private sector business to play a key role in ensuring the Board works effectively. S/he will have particular responsibility for providing strategic leadership to the Board and for ensuring it successfully discharges its overall responsibility for the activities of the College. The new Chair would find himself or herself well supported by a highly professional senior management team, and a collegiate Board, working with a College in good order and well regarded locally and within the UHI partnership. Previous Board experience would be assumed but there is no expectation that any candidate will previously have been a Chair. The term of appointment will be four years, with a possibility of a further four years. The post is not remunerated but out-of-pocket expenses will be paid, plus a non-quantifiable, taxable honorarium of £200 per annum. The annual commitment of Board members is around 15/18 days but it is expected that the Board Chair will need to devote a minimum of two to three days per month to Board business. The post will be supported by one or two Vice Chairs. All Board positions are subject to Enhanced Disclosure check with Disclosure Scotland upon appointment. Members are also asked to sign up to a Code of Conduct, and to formally register any interests which may have a bearing on their work for the Board. They will complete a form as an application to be a director of the Company. If you would like to be considered for this post, please provide your CV and a covering letter outlining what you might bring to the Board. Please send this to Claire Wylie, College Secretary to the Board: [email protected] or 01397 874525 (note part-time hours and may not always be available by phone). Closing date: Friday 8 November 2019 Interview date: Tuesday 19 November 2019 In line with our Equality and Diversity policy, West Highland College UHI is committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated on the basis of their merits and abilities, and that unfair and unlawful discrimination is eliminated. We positively welcome applications from all sections of the community. West Highland College UHI is a company limited by guarantee (SC153921) with charitable status (SC024193) Registered Office: West Highland College UHI, Carmichael Way, Fort William PH33 6FF Role and duties of Chair Role of the Chair The Chair of the Board of Management has a particular responsibility for providing effective strategic leadership to the Board and for ensuring it discharges successfully its overall responsibility for the activities of the College as a whole. He or she has a key role to play in ensuring that the Board works effectively. That role will include: • providing leadership to the Board, welding together the individual Board members into a cohesive team, to enable it to carry out its responsibilities effectively; • ensuring that the Board remains focused on the bigger strategic picture, retaining only oversight of operational matters that are properly the preserve of management; • enabling all Board members to make a full contribution to the affairs of the Board and ensure that it acts as a team; this includes a role in ensuring that all members, when appointed, are fully briefed on the terms of their appointment and on their duties and responsibilities; • appraising the performance of Board members on an annual basis and discussing and resolving any issues arising from that appraisal; • ensuring that key and appropriate issues are discussed by the Board in a timely manner; • ensuring that the Board has adequate support and is provided with all the necessary information on which to base decisions; • ensuring that in reaching decisions the Board takes proper account of statutory and other requirements and constraints; the recommendations of college management should be accepted only when the Chair is satisfied that the Board has fully considered all the issues, including any guidance issued by the senior management; • obtaining professional advice for the Board, when necessary; • representing the views of the College to the general public and playing an ambassadorial role on behalf of the College, especially with community leaders in the West Highlands and elsewhere; • encouraging and embodying high standards of propriety.